


Meeting the Demonic In-Laws

by SilverSapphyre



Series: Shorty Series [6]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Aquaphobia, Bit of Blood and Wounding (regular DMC stuff), Cussing, Demonic Influence, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Limey, Non-Graphic Aquaphobia, Sass, cuteness, mostly sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverSapphyre/pseuds/SilverSapphyre
Summary: There's someone forcing Demon Hunters on the same jobs, and you don't know whether it's for them to kill each other or to force them to work together.  You're on a job with Nero when you meet Dante, and a few things in both their pasts come to light, which isn't unexpected.  What is unexpected is when, a few days later, Vergil makes a portal right into your living room.
Relationships: Nero (Devil May Cry)/Female Reader, Nero (Devil May Cry)/Reader, Nero (Devil May Cry)/You
Series: Shorty Series [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1496582
Comments: 7
Kudos: 149
Collections: Devil May Cry - Nero x Reader/OC Recommendations





	Meeting the Demonic In-Laws

**Author's Note:**

> Holy. Friggin. Shit. On. Wheat. Toast. This piece took me ages!! Adulting Shenanigans™ to the fucking max, lemme tell ya! 😊 Enjoy!!

The last couple weeks had been rather strange for you. Every job you went to take care of had seen you meeting up with other Hunters who had been given the exact same task. You were extremely cordial about it, though. It was mostly easy to strike up deals to split the pay, though some of them were greedy and thought they could take you out and keep it all for themselves. Those Hunters quickly found themselves losing extra money on hospital stays. Real agents, like Morrison, did their best to keep meetings from happening since Devil Hunters had enough to worry about with their prey trying to kill them. They didn’t need other competition attempting to do the same.

You took an easy, low-pay job that a rookie Devil Hunter could handle, only surprised to see _two_ Hunters who were fighting over the payment. You flipped your blade into its gun mode, firing one shot between them to make them jump apart. “If I cared about the money for this one, you two wouldn’t be standing,” you stated plainly, your voice brooking no argument. “There aren’t enough of us who are actually good at this, so stop trying to kill each other and leave that work for the demons.”

“Who the hell are you?” the woman on your left bit out, keeping herself angled to see both you and the man she had been fighting.

You gave her a _look_ and retorted, “The brains, apparently.” She recoiled slightly, and you had to fight not to roll your eyes. “Look, if you two did equal work on this job, then split the pay evenly,” you continued, trying to be as calming as possible. “You both walk away happy and have the time and energy to take another job. You’re not getting paid to kill each other.”

“Hey…” the man spoke up, “I know you… Why’re ya takin’ an easy job like this?" His accent threw you a bit, and you were tempted to ask if he knew Nico. "I’ve heard about ya takin’ out _Elder Devils_ , so this’s _way_ below yer pay grade.”

You pressed your lips together and huffed a sigh through your nose. A split second later, you had to fight a blush away upon realizing Nero’s mannerisms were rubbing off on you. “There’s something going on,” you decided to answer, “Someone’s causing Hunters to run across each other on purpose. I don’t know whether it’s to pit us against each other or to get us to work together, but it’s _obviously_ ,” you looked between them both, “doing more of the former.”

“Well, _yeah_ ,” the woman retorted, “Being a Devil Hunter is kinda like a solo thing? These small fries don’t exactly need a team effort to take out.”

You _almost_ growled at her but settled for glaring. “You got shoved into a team this time, so make the best of it and _act like it_.” She opened her mouth, and you actually _did_ growl before continuing, “I might not be hovering around to keep you from doing something stupid next time, so _use your damn brain_.” Even the man jerked back at your snarl. “You might end up against someone who gives zero shits for that mouth of yours and _will_ wipe the floor with you. What good does that attitude do you then?” These two had _no idea_ the experience you had in dealing with attitude. “What the hell were you fighting over anyway?”

The woman’s face became very red, so the man huffed and said, “She tried t’say I jus’ stood back an’ watched. I got here _before_ she did.”

You blinked when she actually stomped her foot. “Bullshit!” she half-shouted, “I watched you roll up in your car!”

The man rolled his eyes and retorted, “I ain’t got a car!” You had the distinct feeling that he’d already tried to tell her that more than once. “I got a motorcycle! I parked it three blocks away,” he held up three fingers, “so th’ sound wouldn’t alert th’ demons!”

“ _Enough_!” you yelled, feeling a little satisfied when they both jumped, “Split the money fifty-fifty, or _so help me_ , I’ll hunt you both down! Now,” you spoke much more quietly, “tell me about this car then _get the fuck outta here_ before your fighting draws more demons.” The woman told you everything she knew, then they quickly left when you pointed your gun at them again. You breathed a sigh and made your way over to where she said she saw it pull up.

It was obviously gone, but at least you had a color, make, and model of a vehicle to do something with.

_______

You weren’t able to track down much about the car since there were others like it, and you tossed and turned all night before finally falling into a restless sleep. The next morning, you woke up on your belly with Nero’s familiar weight pressing you into the mattress. You would have gladly lain there all morning with his breath brushing over the back of your neck making you shiver, but you desperately needed to do your business. Your squirming caused him to stir enough to let you up. As soon as you were finished in the bathroom, though, a spectral claw was pulling you back into his arms, that rumbling, growly purr sounding from his chest as he nuzzled the back of your neck.

“G’back t’seep,” he breathed against the skin, “Ya‘ut’n’t stahp movin’ ‘til’I’aid ‘n ya…”

You blinked and tried to decipher his slurred words. “…What?”

He groaned and shifted his arms, keeping the one you were lying on around your abdomen and moving the other to slide his forearm between your breasts and cup the opposite shoulder. “Go back…to sleep…” he mumbled, “Ya wouldn’t…stop movin’…until I laid on ya…”

“I would, but…I have another job today…” you mumbled, folding your arms over his and tracing over the backs of his hands with your fingertips.

“Same, but go ta s’eep,” he muttered, his words losing coherency as he started drifting back off. Between holding you and your touches, a fight against sleep was one he wasn’t going to win without interference, and he didn’t _want_ to win it. He growled softly when you shifted to pull away and get up. You moved again, but he gently sank his teeth into the back of your shoulder, making you freeze in place until he pulled away and pressed a few kisses there. He purred again when your body relaxed into him.

You smiled softly and closed your eyes, slipping back into sleep much easier than you expected.

_______

Another week passed in a similar vein, and you eventually got annoyed with running across people who knew nothing or tried to kill you. When you came home with bruised ribs and a bad cut in your leg from your knee to your hip that would have needed stitches if not for Nero, he put his foot down and bundled you off into the van. It took threats of duct taping you to the seat to make you rest for a day. 

After that, you went with him, took out several higher-tier demons and Devils, and came across more of the skilled Hunters, one of which who had given you the bruised ribs and the nasty slice in your thigh. Nero was proud of you for putting the other Hunter in the hospital with a concussion, internal bruising, and a broken nose. You were proud of Nero for not putting the asshole _back_ in the hospital, though it was a very near thing, and it took you bodily slamming into him and shoving his face into your neck to stop him. Once back in the van, he was a storm of snarling rage and wouldn’t let you off his lap for two hours.

Nico teased you both for two _days_ , making cooing and kissing noises that caused you both to blush and Nero to hide his face in your neck and, if you weren’t within nuzzling distance, behind the hood of his jacket. You made her finally stop during one of her kissy noise spiels. Gripping the edge of Nero’s hood that was hiding his embarrassed face, you pulled him down into a kiss that didn’t take long for him to melt into. You were _both_ flushed for an entirely different reason as Nico spluttered and went back to her worktable. You couldn’t help a smirk up at Nero as you licked your lips then stated loud enough to be heard, “If she wants to see us kiss so badly, who are we to deny her voyeuristic tendencies?”

“You quit makin’ assumptions!” Nico shouted from the back of the van, and you knew she was flustered since that was the best she could come up with. “The next job’s a mile away, and you two assholes can damned well _walk_ there!”

“Oh, c’mon, Nico! You were askin’ for it-” Nero was interrupted by a Devil Breaker being thrown at his face, but he still grinned unrepentantly.

_______

Upon returning to your home, it wasn’t long before you were out on another job, and Nero tagged along with you since it was going to be a rough one possibly even _with_ his help. You knew it was _mostly_ because he didn’t want you getting hurt again. He didn’t actually come out and say it, but you still reached up to pinch his cheek while cooing at his cuteness, laughing when he twisted his head to snap at your fingers.

The first clue of another Hunter already being there wasn’t the shaking of the ground but actually the _mocking laughter_. You noted the way Nero blinked before giving a rather ferocious grin you’d never seen on his face before, and you had to sprint to keep up with him. “Nero, what-?” you tried to ask, but the familiar blare of Blue Rose interrupted you. The bullets pierced through a demon trying to get the drop on a man in a red coat with familiar white hair, and you glanced between him and Nero for a moment.

“What’s the matter, old man?” Nero spoke up, snickering when the man looked over at him and smirked. “Those bones of yours not able to keep up?”

“You got this call, too, huh?” You watched him fluidly dodge attacks, shooting and slicing other demons that tried to get in his way against the Devil he was currently _playing with_.

“Nah, she did,” Nero thumbed at you, “The job sounded more like an Elder Devil again, so I tagged along,” he finished explaining, leaping into the fray with the grace you were accustomed to. You shelved all your questions for after the battle and slipped up behind him to aid in covering the other Devil Hunter’s back.

“Wait- _Again_?” the man spluttered, sidestepping more easily around the attacks of the huge Devil since you and Nero cleared space for him.

You’d rather them have their concentration on _not_ getting hurt, so you calmly cut in, “Let’s get rid of this thing, then we can go back to the van and talk, okay?” It wouldn’t surprise you if someone was watching, but you hadn’t had a chance to check for other vehicles.

“Little missy’s got a point,” the man said with a twirl of his sword.

“Nine times out of ten,” Nero agreed, and you bumped his leg with your hip. You noted the man’s eyes narrowing on the action for just a brief moment, but your attention was drawn away when Nero corrected, “Okay…nine-point-nine out of ten, sorry,” with a little grin.

“Thank you,” you replied while sticking your tongue out at him.

_______

The Elder Devil and its flunkies were quickly dealt with once all three of you were focused on defeating them. You waited to speak to the Hunter that looked so similar to Nero, instead digging through the dissolving Devil flesh for parts that weren’t vanishing. You knew they had a high enough concentration of energy that either Nico could put them to use or you could sell them. You returned from searching for spoils just in time to catch Nero giving the red-dressed man an impressive four-fingered salute with his flesh and spectral hands. You gently touched and slid your hand down the arm of the wing, smiling when Nero turned to you.

“This my uncle, Dante,” he introduced you both while you all walked back to the van, though you paid more attention to the surprised rise of Dante’s eyebrows at your action. “She’s been a Devil Hunter for years now, and she’s pretty damn good for a full human… Like, _Lady_ good.”

Dante let out an impressed whistle as he stepped into the vehicle behind you. “ _That_ good, huh, kid?” He rocked on his heels before smacking his lips, gesturing to you as he asked, “Are you who he’s been running around with?”

You couldn’t help a little smirk as you replied, “You would know, I think, considering your sense of smell has to be at least as good as his.” The flash of red in his gaze didn’t bother you in the slightest, though he did proceed to properly scent you.

“Yeah…I can smell you all over each other-”

“- _Dante_!” Nero bit out while covering his face, flipping Nico off when she snickered from her worktable.

“-but I can’t smell him _in_ you.” Dante huffed a chuckle, planting his hands on his hips as he looked at Nero. “You might wanna fix that, kid.” You had a good idea of what the man was referring to, but you weren’t going to blush over the subject like Nero was. “If she’s strong enough to entice someone with _your_ bloodline, she’ll entice others…and they won’t be as kind as you about it.”

“Funny,” you spoke up with a sharp smile that made the teasing expression drop off Dante’s face, “That’s _very_ funny considering he didn’t know much about _his bloodline_ until almost a year and a half ago.”

“Hey, wait-” Nero tried to cut in, wrapping an arm around your chest and trying to gently tug you away, but you knew he had been waiting too long for these answers even though he would never seek them out himself no matter how much he craved them. Nico had the right of it when she called his heart a squishy marshmallow. He would suffer in silence before ever giving voice to any pain he was experiencing if soothing it would cause someone else a problem, but you weren’t about to let it go when there was more potential for _all of them_ to heal.

Your voice was soft and gentle when you scolded, “ _Nero_.” That was a tone you had learned he responded to very quickly, and his teeth actually clacked from how fast his mouth closed. You also noticed Nico making much more racket than she needed to, likely to avoid eavesdropping. “You deserve these answers,” you continued, gazing up into his stormy-blue eyes while laying a hand over his forearm. “You told me this guy had a hunch that you were his nephew _from the first day he met you_. He had _five years_ to say something, and it took you _losing_ your arm, your father coming back _from the dead_ , and about three or four cities’ worth of humans _massacred_ for him to finally tell you?”

“Hey, now,” Dante spoke up, “that’s not completely fair!” You didn’t care for his placating posture, holding his hands up like he wasn’t part of the mess.

“What _is_ fair for you, then?” you bit out while glaring at him. “Is it one of those ‘the people who get close to you get hurt’ things?” You knew you hit the nail on the head when he flinched, heaved a sigh, and flopped back on the couch. You didn’t want to hurt him, but you wanted him to understand the hurt he had inflicted on Nero _and_ himself, so you softened your voice when you murmured, “That’s bullshit, Dante, and you know it…” You only knew what Nero had told you as far as the man’s personality and their story together went. You wanted to make a good first impression since he seemed more of a slight mentor figure in Nero’s life than anyone currently living, but you wouldn’t stand for anyone hurting Nero anymore.

“I ruin everything I love,” the man began half-defensively, and you couldn’t have missed the pain in his body language no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Nero couldn’t help the surprised look on his face due to Dante not bottling it all up. “He had a girl, he had a home, he had a whole _city_ that he had just helped _save_ , and I couldn’t ruin _that_.”

“Kyrie and I were a couple for about a year…” Nero mumbled, his quiet voice barely heard over Nico’s banging and clanging, “but we kept living together to take care of three orphan boys…” Dante blinked in disbelief, and you weren’t shocked that he didn’t even know since Nero was just as bad as he was. “Almost all the people in Fortuna never liked me… They still hate me, but they’re not open about it since I’m one of the reasons Fortuna is still standing.” The younger Hunter held up his arm and channeled Devil energy into it to transform it. “If it hadn’t been for Kyrie, I’m pretty sure they’d have tried to cut my arm off before Vergil did…or just straight up killed me.”

“Kid…” Dante muttered in shock before continuing, “Nero…why didn’t you say anything?”

You caught the grimace on Nero’s face because he ducked his head to hide it, and you grabbed his arm that was still transformed to press the scaly palm against your cheek. “You both need this,” you mumbled, “Talk to him, Nero. I know emotional constipation runs in your family like shortness does in mine,” you gave him a small smile when he let out a weak snicker, “but _talk to him_. You have to feed all of your soul, okay?”

It was a few moments before he finally whispered, “…Yeah… Yeah, okay.” He took a deep breath in before looking straight at the older Hunter. “What was I supposed to do, Dante?” It was an extreme effort to keep his voice level now that he was finally getting this off his chest, and you noted Nico slipping out the back door of the van. “Call up this guy who trusted me with his brother’s sword and a Devil May Cry sign?” He scoffed quietly, and it sounded like a gunshot in the sudden silence left in Nico’s wake. “I didn’t know anything about you other than you acted like a flashy dumbass and liked to agitate the hell out of me.”

Dante leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees while staring at the ground. He growled softly before looking back up at Nero and asking, “Why didn’t you tell those idiots,” he flung his hand out in a gesture toward the vague direction of Fortuna, “that you’re a descendent of Sparda?”

Nero actually let out a surprised, incredulous laugh. “Yeah, sure! Let me throw up in their faces that the _son of a prostitute_ is a descendent of _their god_ without proof!” You gripped both of his hands when he started sounding a little hysterical. “After my arm changed, _the best_ I could’ve hoped for would’ve been a quick, public beheading!”

Dante’s face paled so quickly that you were surprised he hadn’t fainted, and he weakly forced out, “B-But…even if they just…banished you from the island…” You knew from some stories that cult city-states were brutal at best and downright cruel at worst.

“And how would I get off the island?!” Nero choked out, wrapping his arms tightly around you and bending enough to hide his face in your hair. “I don’t have a boat, and I can’t…I can’t… _I can’t fucking swim_!”

You were shocked by that admission, but your fingers quickly buried in his hair with comforting strokes as you vehemently assured, “ _I will teach you_.” You knew there was no point in asking why he’d never said so. You had known Nero for about half a year, and he had never once admitted any sort of weakness.

“They…They tried…” Dante gasped out while gripping the leather of his pants in tight fists, his eyes glowing as his Devil instincts attempted to push forward at such a threat. “They tried to…to drown you…didn’t they…?”

Nero _trembled_ against your back before forcing out, “More than once.” You twisted in his tight hold and used the open space from him pulling back a tiny bit to make him sit in a chair. A moment later, his face was buried in your chest with your fingers carding through his hair as he held you so tightly. “I can save myself if the water’s not too deep… That’s…all Credo was able to…to teach me before…” You mentally filed away the man’s name to ask about when Nero wasn’t in so much emotional or mental pain.

“…Before you were caught?” Dante asked, though it didn’t sound like a question to you. Nero nodded in answer anyway. “But…what happened?”

“Credo was…was punished for _days_ …” Nero paused and took a deep, shuddering breath. Tears welled up in your eyes at the pain in his voice, his whole body shaking with it. “All I could do was treat the wounds…” He clenched his hands into fists against your back. “At night, I’d sneak into his room at the barracks with salve that I kinda stole… The lady knew it was me and who I was taking it for, but she couldn’t just _give_ it to me, so she never turned me over. …I paid her back triple once I became a Knight.”

You knew at that point that he wasn’t shaking just with pain. He was so full of _rage_ at the memory, and while Nero’s anger _was_ dangerous, he needed to let it out. You doubted Kyrie had any clue. He would never want to burden her with such a thing, and he would have kept it from her in case she tried to teach him herself.

Dante stood and stepped up beside you, and he looked so conflicted as you continued to pet Nero’s hair. You huffed at the emotional constipation issue rearing its ugly head, impulsively grabbed his hand, paying no mind to his flinch, and pressed his hand to Nero’s shoulder. It took a few moments before he softly said, “Nero… I’m so sorry… I-I didn’t know…”

“Not lookin’ for an apology for that,” Nero muttered, reaching up to grip Dante’s forearm before adding, “Didn’t even mean to _tell_ you… The conversation went sideways, and…Sons of Sparda are just…doomed to have shitty childhoods, I guess. I _am_ pissed about something we could’ve changed…” He shifted his head to look at Dante with one, red-tinted iris. “Why didn’t you tell me once you were certain? And don’t give me that bullshit about not wanting to ruin my life. Family matters to an orphan…no matter how much we say we don’t care… You know that.”

Dante drew in a deep breath before letting it out in a slow sigh. “I killed my own brother, Nero… _your_ _father_ …because he was stupid and did stupid stuff in a search for the power of Sparda. He ended up captured by Mundus…and I had to kill him…” He looked at his left palm for a long moment before shifting his gaze back to Nero’s. “I thought, maybe…if I kept my distance…” He clenched his teeth before letting out a sigh as his shoulders slumped. “I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about you getting jealous or power hungry… I thought…I _hoped_ …I wouldn’t have to kill you, too,” he finished, giving a weak, sad smile as he looked at his nephew.

Nero held his gaze for a few _long_ moments before finally saying, “I don’t want to just _survive_ , Dante… I want to _thrive_. I don’t know about you, but…” he paused as he leaned back, looking up at you with a soft smile, “It’s pretty hard to thrive _alone_ … Strength for your own sake is useless. You can’t protect anything without strength…but what good is strength when you have nothing to protect?”

You heard Dante sigh, but your eyes were glued to those stormy-blue irises. 

“Kid…” the older Hunter started, tightening the slack grip of his hand on Nero’s shoulder. “You’re the greatest nephew a guy could ask for.”

Nero shifted his gaze to Dante’s, huffing a soft laugh as he rubbed his nose.

_______

You planned on upholding your promise to Nero as soon as you could, so not even wintertime was going to stop you. You called the nearest facility with an indoor swimming pool, which happened to be one city over, and rented two lanes for three full days, and Nico was happy to give you both a ride. You were beyond grateful since it was almost an hour’s drive away. She took one look between you and Nero and, obviously seeing something in his face or posture that didn’t settle with her, didn’t ask any questions.

Making Nero get a pair of swimming trunks was one of the only times he had honestly _argued_ with you. You knew it was his childhood trauma leading him to try to protect you from torturers who _you_ knew couldn’t touch you, so you smoothed over it by threatening to get him a speedo if he didn’t choose a pair. You were glad when he finally did since you felt a little jealous over anyone else seeing that much of his beautiful body. You couldn’t deny, though, that he did look insanely good in the knee-length, navy-ish shorts with black and red wispy flames.

You were quick to get changed and into the water to get used to its temperature. Nero had a strange immunity to environmental heat and cold that left you beyond envious, so there were many times that you borrowed his warmth. It was also beyond worth it to see the look on his face as you stood up fully from the water. His eyes swept down your form, taking in your black swimsuit that had a very deep cut to beneath your bellybutton with three little ties on the front over your abdomen and one thin tie behind your neck with another at your mid-back. You felt the water droplets sliding between your breasts, smirking a little as you watched his gaze follow them all the way down.

“Nero,” you called quietly, smiling when his eyes immediately leapt back up to yours. You couldn’t help biting your lip as he promptly flushed a very fetching red from his chest to his hairline, and you wished you would’ve been able to go swimming with him sooner if you’d known _that_ would be his reaction. “C’mon,” you beckoned as you held up your hand to him.

“Uh…yeah… _Damn_ , sweetheart… _hot_ damn,” he breathed, stepping down the stairs as he watched you, still trying to follow the water running over your skin. He missed the last step and cursed as the water rushed up to meet him much faster than he was ready for. One large step had his head landing on your chest, your arms wrapping supportively and protectively around him, and he couldn’t even feel the throb in his knees from landing on the bottom of the pool. He took a moment to simply breathe. He didn’t know whether it was the sudden spike of fear or the worry for the humans seeing him that prevented him from catching himself with his spectral arms.

You made sure to keep his head above the water even if all he had to do was raise up on his knees to put the water at his stomach. “I’ve got you, Nero,” you assured quietly. A soft smile curved your lips when he turned his face into your skin and took a deep breath, though his nose scrunched cutely at the smell of cleaning chemicals for the water. You noticed how red his neck was, matching his face, ears, and chest, and you traced your fingertips over the skin. “Come now, lovely…” you murmured, kissing his forehead when he looked up at you, “Up and at ‘em. I’ll have you swimming in no time. Credo already took care of the hardest part.” It had been very difficult to get him to open up about his adopted big brother.

“Really?” he asked quietly, having taken stock of the other people there as soon as he had stepped out of the locker room. He was still completely embarrassed over being in his mid-twenties and not knowing how to swim, and he didn’t care that some humans suffered from aquaphobia since he was neither fully human nor was his fear irrational. “What’s the hardest part?” he asked as he slowly got back to his feet.

“Staying calm,” you answered as you took his hands, pulling him to deeper water until it was above your chest and pouting since it was only up to his solar plexus. 

“Hey, teeny,” he muttered with a nervous smile while tightening his hands slightly in yours, “don’t try to tall shame me this time, okay?”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied, sticking your tongue out at him.

He rolled his eyes and shot you a smirk. “Keep it in your face unless you plan to use it.”

You let your eyes fall half-shut while flicking it at him, grinning when his cheeks flushed a soft pink. “The second biggest thing to keep in mind,” you said to pull you both back on track now that his nerves were at least slightly settled, “is that your _lungs_ are what make you float. If they’re full of air, you’ll float, okay?”

While sad, it was also rather adorable that he promptly took in as deep a breath as he could.

_______

You were always impressed with how much of a quick study Nero was, and by halfway through the third day, he was swimming the entire length of the pool like he did it before breakfast every morning. You knew he had pushed himself to get over a fear that people weaker than him instilled in him. You squeaked as he came up from underwater and hiked you up with his arms around your waist, nuzzling into your neck as you giggled. It was so natural for your fingers to card through his hair that you barely realized you were doing it.

He purred quietly, though it became a little louder as you praised him, “I’m so proud of you. I didn’t know him, but I bet Credo would be proud, too.” You kissed his ear that was near your mouth and felt his shuddery sigh against your skin. “You’re such a quick learner,” you continued in a whisper, “and you’re beating those old windbags at their own game.”

The sound of a whistle broke you both out of your moment. “Hey, buddy!” the lifeguard called, “Put her down!”

Nero’s arms tightened around you, and you saw the flicker of blue claws and wings, so you gently tugged his hair. “It’s okay,” you soothed, knowing it was the Devil in him more than anything, “He’s just doing his job and making sure we all follow the rules so that no one gets hurt.”

He grumbled, **“Yeah… Okay,”** and you couldn’t have missed that _something extra_ in his voice even if you’d been deaf. You _felt_ it all the way in your bones. You also noted the twin suns that were fading back into stormy-blue irises, so you fluttered your fingertips across his bare shoulders and down his arms as he sat you down. “I’m okay,” he assured while leaning into your caresses.

“Okay… You want to take a dip in the hot tub?” you wondered, having enjoyed sitting in the jets even if Nero hated the concentrated smell it left on your skin.

He huffed a soft laugh and grinned. “You mean the lukewarm tub?”

“ _Well_ ,” you drawled with a smirk, “ _you_ could warm me up instead…?”

“Tch,” he scoffed quietly, “Not with Captain Cockblock up there.”

“Ca-Capt- _Nero_ ,” you scolded even as you broke down into giggles, and he snickered while shuffling your helplessly laughing form out of the pool. It was only a minute in the chilly air before you sank gratefully into the hot tub. Nero scooted you over to one of the tiered seats so he could sit behind you, and you leaned back to rest against his chest for a few minutes before he guided you back up.

He gently dug his fingers into the muscles of your neck and shoulders. He hadn’t cared much for the hot, chemical-filled water and cared even less for it when a stereotypical muscle-head had hit on you the previous day. He knew you enjoyed relaxing in it, though, so he put forth some extra effort to ease the tension from you. You had done so much for him in just the last couple of days, so there was no way he wasn’t going to find _some_ method to repay you, and he’d give you massages until you were human-shaped putty if he could.

He gave a little grin at your pleased hums, but it faded as he found more and more knots. “I, uh…” he frowned a little and ducked his head before rubbing his nose while continuing, “I didn’t, um…realize how badly I was, ah…stressing you out.”

You leaned forward to press a kiss to his knee that was level with your elbow. “You’re worth it all, Nero,” you assured him, reaching back to take his hands and gently tugging him forward so that he would wrap his arms around you. You nuzzled his bicep as you quietly asked, “Do you want to keep practicing?”

“Not really,” he mumbled before pressing a kiss to your shoulder, “I think my nose has had just about all it can take. …But maybe…when the weather is warm enough…” He kissed a line from your shoulder to your neck. “Maybe we can try this in fresh water or at the beach…?” 

You bit your lip with a smirk, turning your head so that he could see it before whispering, “You have some great ideas.”

_______

Meeting Nero’s father was an experience you wouldn’t ever trade, but you certainly never wanted to repeat it. Apparently, Vergil either didn’t respect or didn’t care for human customs. You stood with a spatula covered in scrambled eggs in your hand, unable to decide whether to be shocked more over Vergil’s abrupt entrance or Nero’s reaction to it.

You had felt the shivering energies of a portal much too close. Nero, half Triggered and snarling, had the intruder pinned to the wall before you even made it out of the kitchen. You watched a katana fly through the air. It landed horizontally over your weapon mounts with unfair grace, and the ethereal claw that flung it returned to pinning a white-haired, blue-dressed man to the wall by piercing through his shoulder. You noted how similar, again, this man was to Nero. It was the barbed tail wrapped around and piercing into Nero’s abdomen and back that let you know he wasn’t human before the claws digging into Nero’s throat registered.

The man had his own share of wounds. They were mostly from one huge claw digging into his shoulder while the other pierced his abdomen and arm to pin him to the wall. You noted his eyes starting to glow a brighter red as deep-blue energy began wavering off him.

“ _Stop_!” you commanded in the strongest voice you could manage at the sight of Nero so heavily injured, the blood itself not bothering you in the slightest. His growling still hadn’t stopped, but it was starting to gurgle more than rumble. “I said _stop_ … _NOW_ ,” you snarled, pointing at them with the object in your hand.

You wondered later what threw them both off more. It could’ve been that you were brandishing a spatula as a sword or the scrambled egg that splattered over their faces, but at that moment in time, you couldn’t have cared either way. Two sets of red eyes shifted to you before Nero blinked and seemed to come back to himself. 

He gritted his teeth as the tail uncoiled from him and the barbed tip tore back through him. “ _Shit_ ,” he hissed as he pulled away from the other man then groused, “Dammit, can’t you fuckin’ _knock_?” as his wounds healed.

“Are you in control of yourself yet?” The calm, condescending way the man asked that had even _your_ hackles raising, so Nero flipping him off with a claw didn’t surprise you. You rolled your eyes and stepped inside the kitchen to grab a few washcloths and bowls of water. The man scoffed and scolded, “This wouldn’t have happened if you had already claimed the woman.”

You watched the flesh heal before the _coat itself_ mended back together with a flare of deep blue and wondered if Nero could learn how to do it. You pushed the thought out of your mind, though, as you came over to Nero and, paying no mind to the deep flush covering his face, nonchalantly started working his sleepshirt over his head, causing him to have to sit down or risk being bent in half for you to reach high enough. You huffed at the bloodstains and damage to your wall and floor as you used a cloth and the ruined shirt to get rid of the worst of the blood and egg on his skin. “ _You_ ,” you said as you pointed at the intruder, “This is _my_ house and you will obey _my_ rules while here.” You jabbed your finger at him for emphasis. “Shoes _and_ weapons are left _at the door_ ,” you pointed at the entryway where the katana still was, “and _no damage to my house_!”

He stared at you for a moment, though his facial expression never changed from looking like he had smelled something unpleasant. Nero started tensing slightly beneath your hands, and you didn’t even think as you slid your fingers through his hair in an easy, soothing gesture. The man watched you before a tiny smirk curved his lips upward. He grunted a laugh and muttered, “Very well,” before going to the door to take his shoes off and hang his coat beside Nero’s. “Does this suit you, princess?”

“I have a name,” you muttered as you flung a rag at him to wash off the blood and egg. You didn’t care whether or not he caught it as you turned back to Nero, being extra careful with his abdomen since the puncture wound had overlapped a long, old scar. 

“I have yet to know it,” he replied while watching you.

Nero scoffed loudly to draw his father’s attention and introduced you. He was annoyed with this Devil of a new caliber just bursting into territory that didn’t belong to him. A soft growl rumbled low in his throat as Vergil continued to stare.

“’Princess’ suits you better,” the older man finally stated with a smirk. 

“When Nero said you were a fuckin’ asshole,” you grumbled as you gathered up the ruined fabrics, “I was _willing_ to take it with a grain of salt because he has plenty of reason to be biased. You’re proving him right.” You made your way into the kitchen to toss the bloodied rags and shirt into the trash.

“You should claim her before something else does,” Vergil spoke plainly loud enough to carry through to you.

“I heard ya the first damn time,” Nero snarked, and you could easily hear how uncomfortable he was. “She’s a living thing capable of higher thought, not some trophy or pet. I’m the one mooching off her good will.” You stepped back in the living room in time to see the smirk on his face. “Maybe _she_ should be claiming _me_?”

That was the first instance you had seen of _real fury_ on Vergil’s face before he looked at you and curled his lip to show sharp teeth. “And what of you, human? Do you think you could claim my son?” He had raised his head to stare down his nose at you, going out of his way to show his displeasure.

You huffed and rolled your eyes. “Don’t be stupid. All this talk of claiming and bullshit is getting old.” You didn’t back down from this part-Devil just as you hadn’t backed down from Nero or Dante. “If Nero wants to fuck me, I won’t say no. If Nero wants me to fuck him, I won’t say no. There’s _nothing_ about claiming to it,” you cut your hand through the air in emphasis, “It’s just two people who care for, trust, and respect each other and want to make the other feel good.” You had raised your fingers with each point.

Vergil breathed out a slow sigh before muttering, “Ignorant child.”

“Then _enlighten_ me, _O Wise One_ ,” you snarked as you crossed your arms. Normally, you wouldn’t poke the hornet’s nest, but the man had already agreed to follow your rules in your home, and you trusted he wouldn’t break that on the vouching of his own son. Nero had told you that, as much of an asshole as Vergil was, he was also a man of his word if he deemed you worthy of it.

“When demons of sufficient power find a mate, they claim that mate as their own.” You gave Vergil credit for not beating around the bush. “They first cover their prospective mate in their scent to ward off or entice challengers so they can show off to their would-be mate, which is what Nero has done whether he realizes it or not.”

Nero spluttered with a dark blush and managed to stammer, “B-But I d-didn’t mean-”

Vergil pinched the bridge of his nose and interrupted him with a muttered, “This is what I get for not raising you.”

“No,” Nero griped in reply, “instead you ran off and raised a _tower_ that killed a couple thousand humans.”

You were a bit horrified at the thought of the man killing that many humans with no remorse, but you supposed the Devil in him made it a bit hard to care. You did have to bite your lips to stifle your smile when Vergil smacked Nero over the head. “Let’s get back to the main point, please? If this is for Nero, I want to know all about it,” you said as you sat beside the younger part-Devil.

Vergil eyed you for a moment before one side of his mouth lifted in a _very_ familiar, crooked smile. “Dante was right. You _are_ something special… A fitting princess for my not-so-princely son.”

Nero’s face scrunched in displeasure as he muttered, “You’re _not_ king of the underworld, remember?”

The older man grunted out a few chuckles, and you noted his fingers twitching like they should have a sword in them. “Half of me was, so why wouldn’t I be now that I am whole?”

“ _The point_ , please?!” you cut in with an annoyed glare.

“Pushy princess,” Vergil muttered before sitting on your coffee table heavily. “Alright then. I’ll cut to the chase,” the older man continued as he leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees and lace his fingers in front of his mouth. He gazed between you and Nero before focusing on his son. “During _full_ sexual intercourse, you will have a raging instinct to share three bodily fluids – ejaculate, blood, and tears.” The younger man blushed all the way to his hairline. “The tears of a Devil are _precious_ ,” Vergil continued as he looked at you, “do you understand? They carry the feelings that a Devil has no heart to help it interpret.”

You couldn’t make yourself believe the Devil within Nero wasn’t also part of his heart.

“I have cried only _once_ after the Devil within me was awakened,” he went on, and he didn’t pause to elaborate on when that was. You knew it was when he mated with Nero’s mother. The dork beside you who was currently trying to emulate a red flare certainly may not have been _conceived_ then, and it made you wonder what happened to the woman. “Do _not_ push each other away-”

“I don’t ever intend to,” you interrupted, not wanting to know whatever consequences might befall an action that you had no interest in taking.

“Me either,” Nero assured as he nuzzled the side of your head, “This teeny little human is somethin’ else, and I won’t let her go.”

“Very good,” Vergil praised, and you had a feeling getting _his_ praise was an effort similar to squeezing blood out of a turnip. “Let Dante and I worry about this idiot pitting Devil Hunters against each other.” You opened your mouth to argue, but he let out a soft, annoyed hiss of breath. “Listen to me: if Nero perceives _any_ of the other Hunters as a challenge or a threat to you, he just might kill them. The soft-hearted child would never forgive himself.”

You’d had a glimpse of just how dangerous Nero could be if his Devil instincts took over just that morning. It definitely spoke volumes that Nero didn’t _deny_ the possibility. “Let me give you the info I’ve gathered. I don’t know what all you guys have put together, but any extra bit helps.”

Vergil’s explanation cleared up quite a few things for you, especially Nero’s earlier reactions to the Hunter who injured you, the guy at the gym who hit on you, and the lifeguard. Nero had also attached himself to you like an obnoxiously stubborn burr when around Dante and Vergil. You noted how intent Nero’s gaze was on Vergil, and he tensed with every move his father made, only relaxing once the man settled again.

The blue-dressed man certainly didn’t miss it either. He stood slowly from the coffee table as he said, “If you have anything to give us, it would be best for me to wait outside. Nero won’t let you go otherwise.”

You heaved a sigh, reaching up to flick Nero’s forehead, and were unable to help an abrupt, choking giggle when he _whined_ at the admonishment.

**Author's Note:**

> Also on tumblr: @SilverSapphyre


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